The concern for data privacy is overblown: Pranav Mistry

For Pranav Mistry, Head - Think Tank Team & Global Vice President -Research, Samsung, now is the most exciting time, where the urge of information will stay the same, but the technology will keep upgrading and help us to shape tomorrow. Today’s tech is more interactive, unlike TV and radio. The information part is the only thing that stays stable. 

Speaking about devices, he pointed out that tablets are a concept going on since years and could be dated as ancient as 5500 BCE. Tablets exist even today, it’s just the tech and the mediums that keep changing and will keep changing. And the industry is catching up with the new technology. 

Mistry further said, “All that is happening on our phones over Google, can happen in the real world and what I am showing you will very soon be reality. That day is not far.” 

At the same time, Mistry also stated that there are two sides to everything. Along with the good that technology does, there is also a negative effect of the growing technology. “We, the creators and promoters, have to be responsible and ethical in a way that tech and content do not become a problem for the users,” he emphasised. 

Adgully caught up with Pranav Mistry on the sidelines of the recently concluded IAA World Congress in Kochi. 

There is a big focus on driving engagement through personalised and programmatic. How do you see it shaping the mobile landscape?
There are two sides to it – one, where you don’t get bombarded by things that you don’t like to do or filtering out irrelevant ads. As consumers, we do look for different things; for example, if I want to move into a new house, then I’ll be looking for new furniture. This kind of contextualisation is needed. The other side to this is the fact that technology is not mature enough to estimate a beginning or an end to the promotion. It’s not as accurate as the consumer would like it to be. 

The potential of AI will bring about a change in the mobile landscape through smarter ways to target and promote and analyse huge amounts of data to enhance the relevance. 

How do you see creativity and content on the mobile evolving?
The mobile is a wonderful medium for creativity and content because it has enabled so many possibilities. An architect can sketch real-time, a designer can draw on the go, and photographer can click pics and upload them right away with modifications. All of this is possible from one single device, that is the mobile. In return, we should embrace these tools as much as possible. Mobile also breaks the economic barrier by becoming cheaper and better every day, thus opening a whole new market for the industry. 

What are the key opportunities for digital marketers in the mobile space?
Mobile is the centre of the digital world, and digital world is the centre of mobiles. They are interdependent and can’t be isolated. So, any digital marketer should design the mobile platform first and then think about it. 

In your presentation you had showed us a glimpse of the future, where humans and technology will be completely unified in an immersive manner. There’s a lot of data being acquired by companies to help them understand human behaviour. How does Samsung ensure data privacy?
The concern for data privacy is overblown. Data existed in the earlier times as well, so it’s about what we want in return. Earlier, a person would be noting down what happened around him, now we have tools to do this, so the results are obtained faster and hence, this concern and reaction from the consumers. There’s a preconceived notion about data privacy and it can fixed with plenty of tools that are available. 

Is measurement a big deterrent for digital marketers, especially when there is no unified system of digital measurement?
Everyone will have their own way of measurement. 

What are the key trends for 2019?
People will see the change to invisible computing, where they don’t care about the devices anymore.